E-CIGARETTES: SMOKING YOUR HEALTH AWAY

Ever since the advent of tobacco, humans have played with it in various forms, be it from loose leaves, or twisted together as a rope called “Twist”, crushed together and used, referred as “Plug”. These were the age-old smokeless forms.

As technology advanced, we too came up with more nefarious ways of consuming this toxin. The latest and coolest trend came up in the name of “Smoking” where in these leaves were rolled in a paper and was sold in the name of “Cancer Causing, Cigarettes”

For years, young and old people alike were smoking their health away in the name of stress and depression, not knowing that it was causing cancer, spreading like a virus to every corner of your lungs giving you lung cancer (deadly) or if you had God’s grace, it was less harmful by only causing mouth or throat cancer, which is a smaller threat but will scar you and your family for life.

As more and more people, started seeing symptoms and severe consequences from smoking, awareness started spreading like the very smoke that spreads into the lungs of these smokers, people grew aware and the government intervened and made it compulsory to put up on every tobacco product sold in the market to be labelled with, “Tobacco kills, it causes cancer”.

To this extent, even when preventive measures were deployed and the masses did not budge, they continued to smoke their life away and ultimately dying, leaving their loved ones behind in this world alone, a majority of these death were of the middle class and the lower middle class because of the high treatment costs and life support after the treatment to survive this atrocity.

Fast forward to 2019, where technology has advanced by centuries worth in just a span of a decade, people have come up with ways to minimize the ill-effects of smoking nicotine and cancer causing tar by simply using a “Vaping Pen” or “E-Cigarette” to bypass the cancer causing culprit.

To my readers, who don’t know how these Electronic Cigarettes work, let me brief you on the same. Every E-Cigarette or Vaping Pen is a smokable, refillable cartridge that holds liquid that contains, nicotine, solvent and chemical flavours so that gives you the nicotine high without the cancer or the “death breath”. (People who smoke, their mouth starts to smell like ROT).

So, when a person, inhales using a Vaping Pen, the battery in the pen, heats up the liquid inside which is in turn is atomized into inhalable vapour, which is inhaled into the lungs.

One cartridge has enough liquid equivalent to 250 puffs, the nicotine in the same is equivalent to around 16mg’s worth. (An average cigarette has 10 to 20 mgs worth)

Since, the smoke is not produced, since the cigarette is not burned, people fall prey to this and think that nicotine would not harm them, but that’s not the case, au contraire, it is equally harmful, if not more.

Millennials are the biggest consumers of this new phenomenon and they are victims of this uber cool technology as they think, it makes them de-stress and it is a fun thing to do when you are hanging out with your friends.

The following may immediately flare up and happen when one starts vaping (Dose dependent):

1. Nausea
2. Vomiting
3. Abdominal pain
4. Eye irritation
5. High Blood Pressure
6. Seizures
7. Coma
8. Even Death

Ever since it’s advent, the number of cases of lungs diseases (specially “Popcorn Lungs” also known as “Bronchiolitis Obliterans” where the airways in the lungs are scarred and narrowed) has increased substantially, where on an average monthly lung diseases patients have shot up to 500, which is whopping big number.

Indian Government’s take on this situation is applaud worthy and I thoroughly stand by their decision.

People who think E-Cigarettes help to give up Tobacco use or Smoking is a bogus claim, it’s the exact same situation wherein a person is made addictive of anti-drug pills to stop his/her dependence of a alcohol or any other psychotropic compound.

A complete BAN was necessary, and our government did exactly that.

You cannot fight Poison with Poison.

Majority of the sellers promote their Hookahs and E-Cigarettes as “Nicotine Free” and they lure in millennials by adding flavours to make it more lucrative, adding fuel to the fire, wherein the kids are also roped into this quicksand of death.

I urge all my readers who see their peers, friends and family engaging in smoking tobacco via Cigarettes or Vaping or Hookahs, please take immediate action and save your loved ones.

Life is too valuable, use this Gift of life, don’t smoke it up into ashes.

Godspeed.